Oh yes, its that time again to start thinking about what/when we're going to release next month. I've been thinking about this for a while and this is what I came up with. Some of these are already done, so I'm just listing them for completeness sake.

Updated feature/content list (from June 2011 release):- Improve the final chain of events in the cave map and transition to the next map after the boss battle (ie game does not end there)- Re-use the opening scene map to show the knights traveling back to the city- Harrvah city map. Not saying we should complete it, but just enough so the player can run around and explore. Provide an NPC near the entrance explaining that this map is incomplete and is just here for players to check out and explore- Updated battle system. Player can select actions during their idle state in battle. (We'll keep wait mode set though so they don't have to know/need this feature to fight battles)- Improvements to battle GUI: making some elements more easy to see, like text and HP/SP bars.

Would also be nice to have:- Battle dialogue implemented. Particularly I'd like to a dialogue for the first battle encounter in the game where the player has the option to have the key points of the battle system explained to them.- Pathfinding fixes/improvements in map mode. At this point densuke is definitely MIA so someone else would need to pick this up.- Save mode improvements as per the recent design discussion. Would be nice to see something a little more mature than the current system.- Menu mode design changes. There are a series of drafts I put together for menu mode a few months ago and I'd like to begin implementing them sometime soon. We're going to need to change menu mode anyway to allow the player to change the battle setting between wait/active.- Improved/additional sequences for battles (entry, exit, etc) to make the transitions flow smoother- Better algorithm for enemy sprites roaming around on maps.

Sounds good. Just to clarify, we already have the A* pathfinding algorithm implemented. My guess is that the problem with pathfinding is not that its not finding the path properly, but its the execution of the sprite moving along that path that is flawed. I'm not sure though. Last time I heard from densuke he said that he was adding a debugging feature to map mode that highlighted tiles along computed paths so we could actually see how the algorithm was planning to get a sprite from A to B.

Last night rujasu and I talked on IRC about what we need to do for this release and we agreed on the following. rujasu will be focusing all his efforts on improving save mode for this release. I will be responsible for updating and implementing everything necessary for the maps in this release (this includes the intro scene map, cave map, and city map). I'll begin working on the maps as soon as I finish implementing the battle dialogue code. I doubt I'll get a chance to get to the menu mode code for this release so I might just hold off on that until after the release goes live.

I guess my critters won't be featured yet, but I'm assuming the cave entrance certainly will!

Oh crap. I have to make roaming sprites for the salamander and fart lord!

I guess having the boulder done for the next release would be a good thing.

I'll try to get done as many needed assets for the next release as I can - don't expect an XBOX HUEG amount of work but you'll get some more things before the release date.

One question: Is there any other RogueTemple fellow around here, besides me? I don't think so. I will make a post about the release in there, in the appropiate sub-forum, when it is out. Perhaps someone is interested!

I was thinking about putting in your demons in the "Battle" option available from the boot menu, just so that we could have a chance to see and fight with them even though we're not yet to the point where we have the map that these enemies would go on.

I don't know what Rogue Temple is. Feel free to share it in the "Other Game Development" forum (assuming its another game being put together).

No no, it's a forum about roguelikes, a game genre. Nethack, Rogue, Dungeon Crawl, Angband, IVAN, Hydra Slayer, Mage Guild... a never ending list of which I just typed the ones that came off the top of my head.

I'm providing graphics for two roguelike game projects by guys I met in that forum

Today's not so good for me; I may not be able to get to Allacrost until the evening (my time). I haven't spent much time on the return from the cave events either, so if someone else wants to do it, that's cool, if not I guess I'll get to it when I get to it.